When told Friday that his team had reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 12, Angels manager Mike Scioscia reacted with indifference.

“We really don’t care about that right now,” Scioscia said. “Our strategy isn’t going to change just so we can be .500 at this point of the year. We are going to go out there and work the same way we have been working.”

That way has worked pretty well lately, as the Angels are 16-14 after sweeping the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. The Angels have won four in a row – giving up only six runs in that span – and seven of eight games to move within a half-game of the Texas Rangers in the AL West.

All this despite an injury outbreak that was severe in the number and quality of players injured. The Angels have seen arguably their top hitter (Vladimir Guerrero), three starting pitchers (John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvin Escobar) and two middle relievers with starting experience (Dustin Moseley and Darren Oliver) spend time on the disabled list during the first month.

Add on the tragic death of 22-year-old up-and-coming starting pitcher Nick Adenhart on April 9 in an early-morning automobile accident, and it’s miraculous that the Angels are in as good of shape as they are.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. “From Little League up till now, I have never seen as many star players get hurt in such a short time. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. For a while, it seemed like every time I’d come to the park, something else was happening.”

But there finally seems as if there is a light to the end of the injury tunnel. Oliver returned to the bullpen a week ago and was key in the Kansas City sweep, quelling a sixth-inning Royals rally in a one-run game Friday and providing 2<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>3 innings of scoreless relief in Sunday’s come-from-behind 4-3 win.

Lackey and Santana are making rehab starts and are expected to join the team in the next week, barring setbacks. Guerrero will start taking batting practice this week – maybe as soon as the upcoming three-game series with the Boston Red Sox that starts today – and should be ready to play again some time next week, while Moseley and Escobar are progressing nicely in their recoveries.

“It’s starting to come together for us now,” said starting pitcher Jered Weaver, one of the few Angels hurlers not to get injured in the first month. “It will be nice to get those guys back, but the guys we’ve been playing with have done a great job in a tough situation.”

The Angels rotation has been filled with the likes of Matt Palmer, Shane Loux and Anthony Ortega, with all of those guys showing flashes of big-league potential. The most compelling story has been Palmer, a 30-year-old minor-league journeyman who is 3-0 with a 3.06 ERA in three starts.

“All of those guys have really pitched well at times and have shown that they belong here,” Scioscia said. “They’ve given us a chance to win, which is all you can really ask. There have only been a couple of times where they were knocked out early.”

At the very least, the experience of the last month could allow the trio a chance to bolster the Angels’ middle relief as the season goes on. Their progression gives the Angels more options in that capacity than they had when the season started.

“Those guys have really done a great job,” catcher Jeff Mathis said. “They are a big reason why we are playing well right now and I think the experience they are getting is going to help us later in the season. They are going to be factors for us.”

The injury bug also has allowed the Angels to discover their two-headed threat at catcher. Recently, the Angels have been playing both Mathis and Mike Napoli at the same time, with Napoli filling the role of designated hitter.

Napoli has swung a hot bat all year, batting .316 with five home runs and 14 RBIs, while Mathis has knocked in 10 runs.

“They both have earned it,” Scioscia said. “Nap’s been swinging a hot bat the entire season while Mathis has been great defensively and been coming up with key hits. They both have useful skills and have been playing well.”

While the Angels seem to have weathered the storm with their current group, they can’t wait to have the injured crew back to assist the quest for a third-straight division title.

“Man, its going to be great to get Vlad back,” Hunter said. “Our lineup has been doing pretty well, but when you have a stud like (Guerrero), it just makes your team that much more dangerous.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.